Daniel Negreanu rips Jordan Cristos for Tanking

Daniel Negreanu is on the warpath again, this time ripping poker pro Jordan Cristos for excessive tanking, or the act of taking a lengthy amount of time to make a decision.

After seeing multiple tweets from Cristos on the subject, most of which send the message ‘I realize people hate me for tanking, but I’m allowed to,’ Negreanu hopped on his blog at FullContactPoker and picked apart each of the tweets. Here’s one excerpt that best explains Negreanu’s main point:

From Cristos: @RealKidPoker @DarryllFish @SavagePoker so much hate for thinking thru decisions like everyone does when it’s crucial. I don’t get it.

Negreanu: Let me try and explain it for you. No one is saying that it’s inappropriate to take your time when decisions are crucial. However, when you are under the gun, first to act, and go into the tank, most everyone agrees that this is crossing a line! When someone 4-bets you before the flop and you take more than 2 minutes to respond, most everyone agrees that this is excessive tanking.

When I play with players who consistently act within a reasonable amount of time, I don’t call the clock on them when they occasionally take a few minutes to make a decision. If there is a habitual tanker like yourself, then you have lost that privilege and courtesy.

Kid Poker goes on to express his opinion that if everybody tanked as much as Cristos, then tournaments would slow to a crawl and amatuers would be totally turned off. He adds, “Jordan talks a lot about respecting the game and respecting the players, but his actions show absolutely no respect for other players time or what is best for the game or the community.”

You can see the entire post here, and note that this exchange sends us back to a long-running debate about whether poker tournaments need a shot clock. There are arguments on both sides because no shot clock does give players enough time to accurately think through tough situations – although players can call time on each in many events. But the flip side is Negreanu’s point in that pros like Cristos can turn amateurs off by tanking every time they’re facing a preflop decision.